Rebranding Tiong Bahru Plaza

TITLE

A refreshing blend of old and new

CLIENT

Tiong Bahru Plaza

BRIEF

Launch the new brand story of the new-look Tiong Bahru Plaza.

STRATEGY

Tiong Bahru Plaza, one of Singapore's earliest heartlander malls located in the iconic and nostalgic Tiong Bahru estate, has been undergoing a new makeover that'll see them being refreshed with new offerings that'll see them more intimately linked to the estate's identity, history and culture.

The new brand positioning and grid developed by Interbrand is visually impactful and at the same time, wonderfully nostalgic in nature, with generous use of the vintage window grilles that were (and still is!) the iconic look within the estate as key elements of the brand grid, and perfectly summed by the tagline: "A refreshing blend of old and new." (Great job, Interbrand!).

With such strong brand identity developed, we wanted to do it adequate justice by developing creatives that truly rode on the guidelines, while going deeper to seed and develop the mall's social conversation potential as well as highlight the estate's strong inter-generational roots - it's the place where grandparents brought their sons up, who in turn became fathers who shared stories of their childhood in Tiong Bahru with their own children whenever they went back to enjoy a family meal or two. Families gather to share stories here over snacks that defined their childhood in Tiong Bahru like chwee kuays and baos.

The first phase was to develop a series of hoardings that will blend in with the estate's history and culture, while giving an exciting glimpse of the mall's new brand story.

We developed two sets of hoarding creatives: one blending old and new shopping and food flavours, the other focusing strongly on the TIong Bahru folks and their relationships. We thought it'll be pretty cool to have a photoshoot with someone from the older generation together with the young, and then have them swap their clothings in a new interpretation of "A refreshing blend of old and new." - to bring out the unique blend of excitement that the newly revamped Tiong Bahru Plaza will be offering.

Here, we're sharing the hoardings first. Stay tuned to this page for more updates as we work on more creative ideas to help launch Tiong Bahru Plaza. We hope you love them as much as we do!

TEAM

We switched the clothes of the expat with that of a Singaporean indian to give a twist to highlight the cultural blend of the Tiong Bahru estate, where friendships are developed over teh tarik and a cold beer or two.

The coffeeshop lady and the professional executive trade places.

Grandma gets to don a school uniform while the student gets to glam up in grandma’s garb.

Daddy and mommy in kid’s wear, while their kids learn about how their grandparents used to dress like back in the good old times.

The hoardings are designed to blend in naturally with the estate, depicting everyday ongoings, with the added bonus of the window and door grilles giving a peep within – to reveal the artist impressions of what the newly revamped Tiong Bahru Plaza will look like. (If you’ve been to Tiong Bahru and walked past the ground floor homes, we’re sure you’ve peeped into the homes through the windows and doors before as well!).

Go on, take a peep!

We replicated the exact look of the Tiong Bahru shops. In this swap, the student dressed in grandma’s garb chooses to use the old style pay phone, while grandma is more technologically sophisticated.

Where possible, real-life objects like this payphone are used as part of the hoardings to create a real atmosphere.

Even signboards are replicated faithfully to every last detail. Can you spot this signboard and which shop it belongs to in Tiong Bahru?

We wanted to replicate the back lanes of Tiong Bahru, where kids used to roam back in the old days and play their self-styled kampong games.

Even the Tiong Bahru cats get to claim their right share of space on the hoardings.

A store directory that welcomes shoppers home.

Rehashing an old classic into a premium giveaway with a strong messaging: let’s all race home to Tiong Bahru Plaza!

The humble paper bag gets a fun twist.

The classic condensed milk takeaway coffee tin gets a modern refresh into a collectible premium.

Activation: can you tell the difference between kopi and latte?

Activation: a roving “Tikam Tikam” truck to bring good old childhood memories back to everyone. Climb onboard to tikam for shopping vouchers!